NV-Sen: Suzy Lowdown Hits a New Low, Speaks Ill of the Dead, Doesn't Even Tell the Whole Story

Oh, looky here! Another day, another Suzy Lowdown scandal emerging...



OK, so the ad doesn't seem so bad? How about the facts behind it?

Former colleagues of a longtime state senator are criticizing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden over her latest campaign ad, which references her 1992 campaign to unseat the late John “Jack” Vergiels.

In the advertisement Lowden tells the audience that she “took on a powerful politician and defeated him because he taxed us while enriching himself” — a reference to Vergiels’ vote to raise lawmakers’ pensions. The increase was reversed before it took effect.

Vergiels, who passed away in December at age 72, was the state Senate majority leader and a former Assembly speaker when Lowden defeated him in the strongly Democratic district. [...]

“Sue Lowden showed an insensitive side to her character with her ad,” said Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas. Asked if she should keep the ad up, Coffin said, “It depends on her humanity. If she’s not a humane person, she will leave it up.”

Helena Vergiels, the majority leader’s widow, said she first saw the commercial Sunday.

“I’m absolutely outraged,” she said. “My husband never profited from anything in the Legislature. If anything, we lost money. I’m just flabbergasted. I think she should take it off the air and owes me an apology, and owes my husband’s name an apology.”

So it's bad enough that she won't tell the whole story about the Legislature promptly repealing the pension increase. It's even worse to accuse the recently deceased Jack Vergiels of "taxing us while enriching himself" when he never really made money in the Legislature. But to trash someone who just died a couple months ago and insult his legacy and his family like this?

That's just low... LOW-DOWN.

Congratulations, Suzy Lowdown. You just embarrassed yourself some more and reminded Nevada voters why we can't trust you in any more elected positions.

Something That Makes Suzy Lowdown's Ad Look Good? Yes, It's That Baaaaaaaaaad.

Could anything be more laughable than Sue Lowden's badly Windows Media-ed attempt at creating the warm & fuzzies on the teevee? Yes, and one very promising California GOoPer has provided it:



Please excuse me while I step aside and laugh some more. This YouTube moment is so bad, it's good... Just not "good" in the kind of way that helps "Carlyfailorina" and her poll numbers.

Sue Lowden's debut ad, meanwhile, is just lame.

NV-Sen: Krook-licki Back In? Johnny Mac Wants Him Back In?

Oh, noezzz! Harry Reid must be crying in a corner over this... Perhaps crying because he's laughing so hard?

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki is now strongly considering a run for the U.S. Senate this year against Sen. Harry Reid, he told the Sun today.

"There are serious people making compelling arguments to me both in the state and out of the state to reconsider the Harry Reid race, and based on that pressure and those conversations I am indeed looking at it," Krolicki said.

Republicans in Washington are displeased with the current crop of candidates taking on Reid, which includes former state Sen. Sue Lowden, former UNLV basketball star Danny Tarkanian and former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle. [...]

Krolicki said Sen. John McCain, whose Nevada presidential campaign he chaired, had reached out to him in the past week.

"It's hard not to consider this when you have people like John McCain asking you to," Krolicki said. [...]

If he is the preferred candidate of Republicans in Washington, he could see a quick cash infusion and pressure on other candidates to bow out.

Obviously, Republicans still don't get it. First off, the only way "Senator Centerfold" was able to snatch the MA-Sen election win was because he distanced himself from "the establishment". And come on, what could possibly be more "establishment" than John McCain and McCain Campaign Chair Brian Krook-licki?

And secondly, just because a judge of questionable repute dismisses the corruption case (while leaving the door wide open for a retrial with a stronger indictment) doesn't mean there's no corruption to be found. Oh yes, I'm sure Team Reid is (re)starting the oppo research should Krook-licki decide to jump back in this race... Which he still may not if wiser heads (the few left in the Nevada GOP) prevail.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the "conventional wisdom" is that Krook-licki has so much mojo and we're supposed to be running scared. YEAH. RIGHT! If this is the best the GOoPers have, then I'm not feeling too scared right now. As I said this morning, as long as Reid delivers the goods he'll be reelected.

And if GOoPers screw up by forsaking their "grassroots", ignoring their wishes, kicking other candidates out of what's supposed to be a fairly contested primary, and forcing Krook-licki upon them, it may backfire on them in ways they won't like in November. After all, Suzy Lowdown already knows an awful lot about that.

NV-Sen: Harry Reid Gets Some Help... From REPUBLICANS??!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know it's all supposed to be "doom and gloom" right now about how everyone supposedly hates Harry Reid. Uh-huh.

Well, as I've been saying all along, it won't take long for the "nothingness scandal" to die down when Suzy Lowdown crawls out of her bunker to spew crap like this on Faux News.

Think about what Lowden's reaction says about her raw political instincts.

In a state that after eight years of Bush overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama and rejected John McCain, in a state that is suffering more than just about any other thanks to Greenspan's real estate bubble, she decides to compare Reid's remarks about Obama to remarks critical of Bush and Greenspan?

Not only does it help Harry Reid to remind people that he isn't a fan of Greenspan or Bush, whining somebody getting called "a political hack" or "a loser" won't win Lowden a single vote. In a state with 12.6% unemployment, does anybody care that Trent Lott was forced to resign 8 years ago after praising segregation?

Even if Lowden were right that Republicans are held to a different standard than Democrats, what does that matter to the people of Nevada?

Everybody knows Reid has a brutal road ahead of him, and he clearly hasn't been making it any easier on himself, but with opponents like Sue Lowden, even Reid might be able to win.

Correction: Especially with opponents like Lil' Tark Shark and Suzy Lowdown, Harry Reid can and WILL win.

Oh, and look who's also suddenly appeared to give Harry Reid a helping hand. It's none other than Johnny Casino!

Nevada Sen. John Ensign said Monday it is wrong for his fellow Republicans to call for the resignation of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid over racially insensitive comments he made about President Obama. [...]

Ensign said Monday that Reid's apology was sincere and that the Nevada Democrat regretted how his comments were taken.

"I think we need to get away from this politics of gotcha," Ensign told KKOH radio in Reno.

"I don't think there's a person walking, certainly not a politician out there, that hasn't made comments they regret," he said. "When you make those comments, as long as you take responsibility for your comments and apologize for them, I think people should accept that."

I can't believe I'm saying this... But for once, I agree with John Ensign on something. No really, this may be the classiest thing I've ever seen our other Senator do.

Of course, he later tried to use the false analogy of the 2002 Trent Lott comments... Again, something where there's just no comparison. But putting that aside for now, Ensign knows which way his bread is buttered. He knows that Reid knows. And come on, he can't afford for any more "dirty little secrets" about the Hampton brouhaha to come out.

So with even Johnny Casino wanting to brush it aside, along with the usual GOP circus clown candidates taking teh stupid to a whole new level, maybe the DC Beltway pundits shouldn't be counting Reid out just yet.

Meanwhile, the Radical Right Becomes Even More Pathetic in "Targeting Reid" (While Killing Themselves)

Yippee, we have ourselves some real GOP infighting! No really, Lil' Tark Shark sent out a recent Human Events blog post (that suspiciously sounds like a list of Team Tark talking points) in a fundraising appeal that points to Baby Danny as "the true conservative" in the race. How precious. When fewer and fewer Nevadans consider themselves "Republicans" and sound more and more progressive every day, the best thing to do for a Republican trying to knock off Nevada's most powerful politician is to tack to the extreme right!

Good thinking, Lil' Tark Shark... For Harry Reid!

And of course, these attacks against Suzy Lowdown come just as she starts internal GOP warfare against all her fellow primary candidates... Since of course, we know how popular Miss Suzy is among her fellow Republicans.

But wait, there's more! We now have "Batsh*t Crazy Sharron Angle" (since we know this is her full name) topping both of the "GOP frontrunners" by:

- Wanting a "national referendum on Harry Reid"... HUH???!! I thought he was our Senator here in Nevada?

- Shut down the stimulus... To take away Nevada jobs.

- Make sure the repaid TARP funds don't get spent on creating more Nevada jobs.

- Freeze the national budget to screw with the livelihood of even more Nevada families!

Oh yeah, Sharron Angle wants to make sure this state suffers some more. I'm sure that will win her plenty of support from the teabaggers... And absolutely no one else!

So there you have it, the radical right is getting even more radical and planning to further alienate themselves from the sane majority in this state. Now perhaps if Harry Reid grows the spine that The Obama White House is so afraid of, he might actually beat any of these GOoPer losers in a landslide!

Just a thought.

NV-Sen: Suzy Lowdown's Keeping "Heidi-Gate" Alive... By Lying Some MORE About It!

I can't help it. I thought I wasn't in the mood for any more political talk this week... Then Steve Sebelius made me laugh by posting this:

Sue Lowden, running for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Harry Reid next year, says in a CQ Politics blog that “…she was aware there had been a police report and some news coverage of a device found underneath his family’s car. She faced criticism for making light of the incident in a radio interview in October.” (Hat tip to my colleague Jon Ralston for the link.)

But the fact is, she didn’t just “make light” of the incident. Lowden said flatly in that radio interview that she’d never heard anything about the 1981 attempt on Reid’s life.

So, which is it? Was she dissembling back in October on the radio (perhaps prompted by the host [the always "unintentionally comical" Heidi Harris], who herself declared that she’d never heard about the incident)? Or was she dissembling to the CQ Politics blogger when she claimed that, in fact, she had been aware of the incident?

Hmmmmmm?

So which is it, Suzy? Did you remember the attempted hit on Harry Reid or not? Do you agree with your BFF Heidi Harris or not?

Oh, hell... I just must ask this again:

Is Sue Lowden THAT stupid??!! Did she really think she could get away with this [brand new!] lie and act like it never really happened? Did she actually think that she'd somehow score political points by [trying to have it both ways] with some hare-brained attempted smear by Heidi Harris of all people?

Keep it klassy, Nevada Republicans!

And the Suzy Lowdown-Heidi Harris 2010 Political Comedy Tour continues...

Johnny Casino's Even Lost Vucanovich. He's a Goner.

Poor Johnny Casino. None of the pols (at least the sane ones) want to play with him, not even Nevada's most famous former GOoPer Congresscritter.

Painting a bleak outlook for Nevada Republicans in general, former U.S. Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, R-Reno, said Tuesday she's "extremely disappointed" that U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., had an affair and thinks it "is going to be tough" for him to win re-election in 2012. [...]

The former seven-term U.S. representative said she's especially disappointed in Ensign's scandal because she personally helped recruit him as a candidate in Las Vegas in the early 1990s when he first ran for the U.S. House.

"I met with his family. I thought he would be a wonderful candidate," said Vucanovich, who served in 1983-97.

"I'm extremely disappointed in him and frankly, very surprised, because I think that isn't the character that everybody thought he was. I'm very, very disappointed," she said. [...]

"Watching him, it has been very hard," she said. "He certainly had to back away from what he was doing in the leadership position he had. I haven't seen a great demonstration of him doing very much."

And before Johnny gets too excited about gladly giving "help" to Suzy Low-down or Lil' Tark Shark, he should listen to the grown-ups in the room.

She also said a host of GOP challengers face an "uphill" battle in their bid to unseat U.S Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. That's primarily because his huge campaign war chest keeps growing thanks in part to help from GOP business leaders who argue Nevada needs his clout in Congress, she said.

"I think it is going to be very difficult for Republicans," Vucanovich said in describing the overall outlook for her party in the coming elections during an appearance Tuesday on KRNV-TV's "Nevada Newsmakers."

Nevada Republicans have really pulled off something amazing. They've recruited such craptastic Senate candidates (for 2010 and 2012!) that even senior Republicans are running AWAY from them as fast as they can!

Johnny Casino can still do the honorable thing and either resign or announce he won't seek a third term in 2012. But of course, that would require he show some honor. Our favorite hairdo just can't handle doing something honorably!

So instead he'll continue to drag down the Nevada GOP with his moral hypocrisy, and we'll keep standing back and laughing as he brings down their sinking ship. :-D

Nope, Nevada GOoPers Still Have Nothing to Say on Health Care

Oh, wow. Miss Sue Low-down & Lil' Tark Shark open their mouths... And once again reveal themselves to be fools.

Republican candidates for U.S. Senate Danny Tarkanian and Sue Lowden, who are among several Republicans seeking the nomination to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., each made health care moves.

Tarkanian announced he would launch an initiative drive that would ensure that if states are given a choice to opt in or out of new federal health programs, the decision in Nevada would be up to the voters.

Tarkanian said he was opposed to much of the reforms the Democratic majority in Congress crafted, but that he does support access to health insurance coverage for all children even if it costs the government money.

Huh??!! If Baby Tark cared so much about children's health care, why didn't he lobby Johnny Casino and "Helluva" Heller to support SCHIP when it was up for a vote earlier this year? So he'll only agree to something after Harry Reid already gets it done? Weak.

And WTF with the new initiatives? He obviously never sees the polls. Nevadans want the public option, so he can take his silly "opt-out initiative" and "shove it where the sun don't shine"!

Oh, but wait! Miss Sue thinks she can "one-up" him on the crazy AND the stupid!

Lowden issued a statement challenging Reid to answer three questions about the legislation: one about the cost, another about whether the plan would raise taxes, and a third about whether it would improve Medicare.

Why doesn't she just read the legislation? Reid's worked to improve Medicare by cutting out the waste in the corporate subsidies to Medicare Advantage so that our tax dollars actually go to caring for seniors. And while there is a provision on taxing employee health benefits in the Senate bill that I hope is removed in Conference, the House's plan will not tax anyone making under $500,000 per year, which means that 99% of Nevadans won't be taxed for health care reform.

But hey, I'm just a progressive blogger. I'm not a Republican running for Harry Reid's Senate seat, so I don't have the privilege of foregoing the facts to talk random jibberish.

NV-Sen: Lowden the Lousy Liar

I can't believe this lady. Is she that inept? After denying Harry Reid's VERY serious bomb scare that happened almost 30 years ago, she's now denying she laughed about it.

[Radio host Ray] Hagar noted that Lowden was a Las Vegas news reporter at the time.

“It seems like a really big story, how could you forget that? And then you laughed about it on the radio,” Hagar said.

“I didn’t laugh about it, but I know it was made out to be that way,” Lowden said.

During Lowden’s appearance on Harris’ show, Harris told Lowden that she had never heard about the bomb and asked Lowden if she had heard of it.

Lowden said (without laughing) that she only remembered the bomb that exploded under colleague Ned Day’s car.

“I don’t remember Harry Reid’s bomb,” Lowden said (still, without laughing).

“So maybe he’s claiming Ned Day’s bomb,” Harris said.

Lowden gave a breathy chuckle. “Maybe,” she said.

Give me a break! Seriously, this lady isn't even a good liar. She's a joke. I hope Harry Reid defeats her all the way back to Santa Fe Station next year!

Is Sue Lowden a Stupid Liar? Or Just Plain Stupid?

OMG, she really went for it! Sue Lowden is so desperate to gain traction as a Senate candidate that she went on slimeball Heidi Harris' radio show and denied ever knowing about the infamous attempted assassination of Harry Reid! WTF??!!

She was a reporter. She was around when it happened. Even The R-J isn't hesitating to dig through its archives and unveil the evidence!

(Courtesy of The R-J)

So we must ask: Is Sue Lowden THAT stupid??!! Did she really think she could get away with this lie and act like it never really happened? Did she actually think that she'd somehow score political points by going along with some hare-brained attempted smear by Heidi Harris of all people?

Keep it klassy, Nevada Republicans!

Oh wait, and it gets better! Miss Sue now looks to have yet another scandal of her own brewing up in Reno.

In a quick recap of the last state [Republican] convention, [Ron] Paul supporters succeeded in winning a rules change that allowed the entire delegation to compete for the 34 national delegate spots. McCain was already the party's presumptive nominee, but Paul supporters thought they might have a shot of ousting him at the national convention. Balloting in the three congressional districts occurred but were counted in only two. With counting still continuing and the at-large delegates yet to be selected, the convention organizers, including Lowden, chairman Bob Beers and McCain consultants decided to abruptly end the convention and reschedule it for another day. The box of ballots from the 2nd Congressional District were never fully counted.

The convention was never rescheduled. The party came up with its own delegates, which included a few Paul supporters. The RNC gave their blessing to the slate and the rest is history.

But some Paul supporters have always wanted to know what was in that box. National Committeewoman Heidi Smith, who has had her own maverick streak and always had an affinity for the Paul supporters, twice asked the Peppermill to search the hotel for the missing box. It was never found.

Earlier this month, however, Smith obtained the key to the safe that contained the ballots at a Republican women's event in Las Vegas. She said the key was given to Lowden, who gave it to Carole Del Carlo, who gave it to Smith.

Last week, Smith went back to the Peppermill with a Paul supporter. They found the safe, which had the box with envelopes full of ballots. Those envelopes are still sealed. They will be opened and counted at Washoe Republican headquarters at 4 p.m. Friday.

"Counting the ballots won't do any good, but at least it will put an end to the fight, I hope," Smith said. "There are some people who will never heal. Some people who will always carry a grudge. But I want them counted. I want it done honestly and then I want everybody to shut up about it."

So now the long lost Republican ballots that were mysteriously found at The Peppermill in Reno will be counted. But why were they lost in the first place? And why were these ballots lost under Sue Lowden's watch? Remember that Sue Lowden was the Nevada Republican Party Chair until earlier this year?

It looks to me like Miss Sue is agreeing with Heidi Harris' batsh*t crazy conspiracy theory on Reid so she can hide her own deep, dark secrets. So what is she hiding? Why weren't those ballots counted last year?

And is Lowden so stupid as to think she could get away with all of this?

NV-Sen: GOP Is Still a Hot Mess

Such is the story being told by today's Sun story on the GOP "circus clown candidates" coming out to challenge Harry Reid. The ones that seem most likely to excite the teabagger base are precisely the ones so extreme they turn off mainstream voters. The one that looks "media savvy" screwed up her own "debut" with easily traced lies on Yucca Mountain.

Oh, and the rest? They're just amusing sideshows.

And do any of them have any real solutions to the problems we face? Foreclosure crisis? Health care? Jobs? Energy? Nope, but they'll say stuff that makes no sense!

This is why fewer and fewer Nevadans identify as Republicans. That party has gone from merely annoying to downright psychotic and extremist!

No wonder why even Sig Rogich now backs Reid.

NV-Sen: Is Harry Reid Being Gracious to or Overly Protecting of John Ensign?

Today's Sun has a piece on Harry Reid's continuing non-aggression pact with Johnny Casino. So is it smart politics?

“They’ve given themselves enough rope. John Ensign is the best thing to happen to us in a long time,” said one Democratic source. “We’re taking the high road, and letting Republicans do the heavy lifting for us by calling for him to resign.”

Or staying wrongfully silent on a deeply disturbing crime?

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said, “The rest of the country knows that Sen. Ensign’s conduct was deplorable. It shouldn’t be impossible for a member of senate leadership to say so.”

The latest allegations that Ensign helped former staffer Doug Hampton secure lobbying clients “makes it a matter well beyond the senator and his family,” she said.

So Harry Reid's being polite. Do I agree with it? No, not when there's criminal behavior involved. Frankly, he just needs to let Johnny Casino have it.

Still, I understand why Reid is letting Ensign hang himself politically. Why get too involved in something that's best left for the Republicans to destroy themselves with? And as long as Reid doesn't hinder any investigation (and so far he isn't), he's not doing anything wrong.

And hey, it's not like he was the chairman of Johnny Casino's party or proudly proclaiming that he wants his support. Sue Lowden and Lil' Tark Shark still have a lot of 'splainin' to do.

NV-Sen: It's Official, Lowden's In. But Can She Beat Reid? Doubt It.

Oh, and I'm shaking in my boots!

One day after resigning from her post overseeing the troubled state Republican Party, former state Sen. Sue Lowden is launching her bid for the U.S. Senate. [...]

Lowden resigned from her job as Nevada Republican chairwoman Wednesday. During her tenure, she presided over a difficult stretch for the party which saw significant electoral losses in 2008. With the help of massive funding from Reid, Democrats were able to increase their voter registration over Republicans by more than 100,000 voters and build a formidable organization in the state.

Republicans also are beset by a series of difficult scandals, including Gov. Jim Gibbons' divorce, U.S. Sen. John Ensign's admission of an affair with a campaign staffer who was married to his best friend, and Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki's indictment on charges of misusing tax dollars.

Ha. And they think this person who ran the GOP into the ground will help them? Well, at least she's fairly more credible than Lil' Tark Shark. And no, that isn't saying much.

And even better yet, take a looky at how she tried to have it both ways with The R-J on Yucca Mountain.

"If Yucca Mountain is in fact over, if it is a done deal, then why are we still having hearings, and why are we still having all of this money coming in from Washington to spend on Yucca Mountain," she said.

Lowden said a blog entry she wrote in December that called on Reid to negotiate benefits for Nevada in exchange for storing nuclear waste was "to challenge Sen. Reid to stop saying that Yucca Mountain was gone, that it was dead."

Former Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., says Reid's strategy on Yucca Mountain is sound.

"He has been very successful over the years, many years, of constantly reducing the appropriation on the project," said Bryan. "I think Sue Lowden is listening to the wrong crowd when she talks about negotiating benefits."

She then tried to say that she "always opposed it", but take a look at her State Senate voting record and see for yourself her votes in SUPPORT of storing toxic radioactive waste in Yucca Mountain.

Yes, she may be the best the GOP has to offer... But that still isn't saying much. Harry Reid can and will beat any of these circus attractions Republican candidates next year.